Trickery in the education budget
When the administration said it would thoroughly review the 2025 General Appropriations Act—with photo op provided, of course—to ensure that the budget aligns with their priorities, it was apparently less of a sincere assessment of what Filipinos need but more of accounting magic to identify technical loopholes that would allow the national budget to barely comply with constitutional requirements. President Marcos had a golden opportunity to prove himself as a sincere and earnest leader, exorcising the greed and self-interest of legislative officials from the budget. But alas, if what they approved is indeed an indication of this administration’s priorities, then it seems it is politics as usual and Filipinos lose yet again.
Malacañang insisted that the education sector received the highest allocation in the 2025 national budget, as required by the Constitution. Traditionally, the education sector is considered to include the Department of Education (DepEd), Commission on Higher Education, state universities and colleges, and the Technical Skills and Development Authority. In order to make their claims, the administration added nontraditional education items to the sector, including budgets for the Philippine Military Academy, Philippine National Police Academy, Local Government Academy, among others. Even with all these additions, the education budget sector still falls short of the Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) P1.034 trillion budget, with a gap of P53.45 billion. To fill the gap and complete their magic, they added “particulars” such as education-related infrastructure to be implemented by DPWH (does this mean that this item is doubly counted?) and the education sector’s share from the second tranche of salary increases. This allows the administration to claim that the education sector received a total of P1.056 trillion, slightly overtaking DPWH. This after vetoing P26 billion from DPWH just to make the math work, only to approve the same P26 billion for the controversial Ayuda Para sa Kapos ang Kita program.
With all the math trickery that was afoot, they may get by on a legal technicality, but they cannot obfuscate the truth: education budgets were cut, especially P12 billion for DepEd and P14.481 billion for state universities and colleges. These cuts were not restored by administration’s “review” but instead padded it with existing budget items from noneducation agencies to make it seem like education is the top priority (and to avoid being legally challenged for its unconstitutionality). In the midst of an education crisis, this is how the administration chooses to respond. Priorities, indeed.
There is a concerning pattern with how this administration deals with money. Last April, they took away around P90 billion from the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) toward unprogrammed appropriations, with the Department of Finance citing a technicality that they have a right to demand excess funds from government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs), despite knowing full well that PhilHealth is not like any other GOCC and there are laws that protect its funds to ensure that it is used toward members’ benefits. Instead of addressing PhilHealth members’ longstanding concerns about getting adequate health coverage and timely reimbursement of costs, lawmakers chose to eliminate PhilHealth’s budget entirely, citing that the agency’s inability to use funds effectively justifies the budget’s removal. The administration, it seems, is more concerned with finding technicalities and loopholes to rationalize their financial decisions rather than allowing for ethical and reflective deliberation on how best to make use of taxpayer money to address the health needs of Filipinos.
Now, they are applying the same tactic of using legal technicalities and loopholes to justify their budget cuts toward the education sector, favoring instead corruption-plagued agencies like DPWH and ayuda programs. Instead of meaningfully addressing the inadequacy of education services in the country and restoring the education budget, they doubled down and used creative accounting to evade legal challenges.
Relying on technicalities to justify depriving funds from social services like health and education, rather than meaningfully addressing these needs, exposes the administration’s true colors. These moves dash hopes that this administration might be contrary to their critics’ expectations. This gives us a glimpse that there is no genuine desire to make political change and that there is an unwillingness to rock the boat among political peers, whose self-interests are on brazen display. This shows that the administration would much rather disappoint the Filipino people than disappoint their political colleagues.
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aatuazon@up.edu.ph
